Sweet Revenge
by decembers glitter
Summary: Seventh year. Hermione Granger has changed in more ways than one & Draco Malfoy is going to find that out. But what about Hermione? What secrets is she harboring? Revenge is just the beginning...
1. Just the Beginning

With every step, I receive stares of awe and shock.

With every look, I grin and smirk.

My steps echo as I walk towards the Hogwarts train and I can't help but smile at Harry Potter and Ronald Weasley.

This year is going to be different. This year, Draco Malfoy will pay for everything he has done.

Rest assured. I will make certain he does.

* * *

Sweet Revenge is stewing right now and I want to get a good start on my other stories, so do not expect a second chapter very soon. I just had to get this out because it was floating around in my head. Please though, give me your thoughts and comments.

Thanks,

Sapphire


	2. Rule One: Don't Ever Show Emotion

Secrets. Trouble-making beautiful things. Yet, everyone has them. Some mere silly embarrassing stories, others deep and dark and complicated intricate lies. I wondered what Harry, Ron, or Ginny would do if they knew what was going on. What had happened…

Sighing inwardly, I took another step closer and closer to what surely would be my own destruction. I put on the show of confidently walking up to all three of them smiling, and going through the usual 'how-was-your-summer-'conversation. And then they all took a step back to observe me in silence. Was it bad? Was it good? Did they know? Could they somehow see through me and the pulsing lies running through my veins?

Finally after a couple of seconds Ginny said, "Hermione, you've changed so much!"

Pulling a tight smile I laughed, "Is that good or bad?"

"Oh, you look beautiful. It will take getting use to, but you look fantastic!" She exclaimed so…_happily. _My stomach loosened in relief. _Good, keep smiling Hermione. Keep putting on a show._

"You've changed too," I returned. And it was true. From an awkward shy girl, Ginny had grown to a gorgeous lady with long legs and the faint impressions of curves. Flowing red hair, a beautiful smile, and her freckles had now spread out faintly.

Looking at Harry and Ron, I noticed that they had grown a couple of inches taller. Their messy hair was messier than usual, and you could see toned bodies from years of playing Quidditch.

I glanced up at Ron and he quickly looked away, a blush rising up to his cheeks. "Yeah, Hermione. You look great."

Harry smiled at Ron and then said, "Well, I hear that somebody made it as a Prefect. Congrats Hermione. Do you know who the other Prefect is?"

"No, not yet. I'm actually supposed to meet Ms. McGonagall in the compartments to find out. So I can't sit with you guys, but I'll see you guys later."

Moving my purse from one shoulder to the other, I gave all three of them hugs and entered the train behind them before going to a different compartment.

"Well," Ms. McGonagall's voice rang out clearly as I closed the doors behind me, "You are surprisingly late, but I'll let it go. We still need to wait for the other Prefect however."

Smiling "thankfully," I sat down, already knowing what was going to happen and how I would react angrily and upset.

Finally, after a good solid five minutes of awkward silence, Draco Malfoy entered the compartment and at once turned up his nose in disgust. But soon a look of surprise took over his sharp features and he let his eyes roam over my body.

I twitched in repulsion.

"I see Granger actually has a body. Oh, and good job getting that mass of fur you call hair taken cared of. I give you credit for trying Granger, but you're still a mud-blood."

"Draco Malfoy, another insult and your title as Prefect will be removed. Now sit down!"

Malfoy, seeing no other place to sit, slowly sat down next to me.

"Congratulations, both you and Hermione Granger have made it as Prefects-"

Key in much arguing and disgusted looks between Malfoy and I and you pretty much have the whole scene down well.

After much yelling from Ms. McGonagall she continued, "Now these are the rules…"

Blah, blah, blah. And so she went over the rules and also how we would be in charge of certain activities. There would be three dances that we would have to plan; spring, Halloween, and a winter dance. Rolling my eyes inwardly, I cursed my misfortunes. Dances? What good would they be?

Once again, I began thinking of plans. Ones that would get me out of the mess I was in. But as soon as I did, a searing ache ran up my arm and I yelped in pain.

"Ms. Granger, are you alright?" Ms. McGonagall asked with a worried expression.

Nodding curtly, I cursed myself. _Rule #1: Don't __**ever**__ show emotion. _Running my hand through my hair, I regained my posture and smiled sweetly. "I just have a headache," I lied.

Next to me, Malfoy snorted rather unattractively and said, "Can we move on?"

Ms. McGonagall briefly shifted her eyes to Malfoy and then looked at me again with concerned eyes, "Right. One last thing, due to reconstruction, you two will have to share a common room."

"What? No. Absolutely not! My father will-" And so Malfoy went on even after the professor had left the compartments.

But me, I didn't mind. Because that meant that I was closer to Malfoy and after all, he _was_ part of my mission.

I smiled as Draco Malfoy left the compartment to look for his little buddies.

Revenge would never taste so sweet.


	3. Son Like Father?

Seeing her there was a disappointment. Is that the word? I'm not sure. Maybe frustrating fits better.

I had hoped, foolishly, that she would somehow know that she should've stayed home. That it was dangerous; _I _was dangerous. In some way, I kept thinking that she would get this feeling that it was not safe to be at Hogwarts. So she's supposed to be the person I hate the most, I get it. But I hate my father more. A lot more. And if I were to become him, I would kill myself. With her being my "mission," I didn't think things could get worse.

However, having to keep up the foolish mask of disgust with her was even harder for some reason. All I wanted to scream was "Get out of here!" But that feeling of _wanting _her to be safe sickened me and I stopped myself from doing so. I hated her and not because of her bloodline, but because she thought she knew everything about school…about me.

Who was she to think that I was just like the rest of them? Just another prick that wanted to be just like his father and therefore was going through death eater training. Although the last part would be right, the first was not. I didn't want to be a death eater; my father had shoved the "exciting opportunity" onto me.

Arriving late to the compartment was no accident and I had, in fact, wished for a second that I had been later. But I had to get this over with and then I could go to my dorm room and sleep. A dreamless sleep where I didn't have to think about all of the things I was expected and being pressured to do.

I had been anxious to get through the meeting with Ms. McGonagall. The lady irritated me. The way she talked, walked, looked at me loudly screamed, "I think you're a death eater and I hate you." And of course, the tiring way I had to keep shooting nasty comments and making pointless arguments with Granger was well…pointless. I had better things to do than waste my time arguing with a useless pathetic being. Even if she cleans up nicely (and no, that was not a compliment. Me complimenting Granger? Right, and I believe in leprechauns).

Anyway, after I left the compartments I made my way over to the most brainless twits in the entire wizarding world. Possibly even more stupid then muggles, I have yet to decide.

But I did have one thing to be sure of…

This year, the Golden Trio, was in for a rude awakening.


	4. Head Girl & Head Boy

My hands trembled as they clasped my small suitcase more securely. I trudged into my new home for the remainder of the new and also my last school year.

The traditional dinner having already taken place, I was physically exhausted from the happy façade I had to put on the whole time. Harry, Ginny, and Ron were surprised and put out once Malfoy and I had been introduced as the new head girl and head boy-of course Malfoy being the only problem. I reassured them all countless times that I would be alright-and of course I would tell Harry and Ron immediately if Malfoy bothered me. Soon after all of the reassurances had been made and my food had gone mostly untouched, I fled at the chance to be alone, feigning a light head.

I relaxed as I critiqued my new room. It was decorated in several beautiful hues of purple, ranging from lavender to eggplant. The furniture was white and silver and the queen size bed in the middle of the room had silver pillows to accent the dark rich purple sheets. I smiled a small smile. I had forgotten until now that Ms. McGonagall had told us our rooms would be decorated the way the room itself thought the individual would want it to be-just like our staircases, our rooms had a mind of their own. It was a slightly scary thought, but the room was perfect. I dropped my small suitcase and purse and jumped onto my bed. Stretching, I smiled with satisfaction. This would be my get away, my own little place where I could be me.

After about ten minutes, I rolled my eyes and grumbled. Malfoy was also apparently enjoying his room and no doubt having accommodated it with his own supply of extravagant items. The loud music pulsing through his room and into mine was testimony to the fact. I waited five minutes, hoping vainly that maybe he would turn it down himself. Instead, as if he could read my thoughts, he turned it up _even more._

"Malfoy! Will you turn that down?!"

The music paused for a split second, but then continued on even louder. I cursed.

"Malfoy!"

There was another pause, but this time it seemed more taunting.

"Bloody hell," I mumbled as I stomped out of my room, through the common room, and to the door of his stupid room.

"Malfoy," I said through clenched teeth. There was shuffling on the other side, but nothing else.

I began pounding on his door.

"Malfoy, you're not the only one living here you know," I shouted.

I was getting ready to begin pounding again, but just as my fist rose, the door opened and Malfoy stood against it looking incredibly nonchalant and bored at the same time. "What do you want Granger?"

Resisting the urge to hex him I said, "Your music. It's too loud."

He rolled his eyes, "I'll get right on that for you."

I grumbled and my hand itched for my wand, but I had left it in my room. And anyway, hexing him probably wasn't a good idea at the moment since school had barely just started. It was our 7th year and many people thought that the ongoing war and dislike between the Slytherins and Gryffindors needed to be resolved. Actually, the only people who had a problem with the growing aversion were Mr. Dumbledore and Ms. McGonagall. I suspect that played a good amount of percentage in who they chose for head girl and boy. Although, I was most likely going to be head girl regardless because of my grades, of which I can't say the same for Malfoy. Okay, so that's not fair. Malfoy is actually smart when he applies himself. _When _being the key word. Oh, and I'm sure his father's money had something to do with that also. I rolled my eyes. It wasn't fair. Malfoy was an egotistical little boy who got everything he wanted. What about Harry who had to go home over the summer and live with his selfish relatives? What about Ron and Ginny who had so little? What about me who…

A searing pain ran up and down my arm as I thought about…

I bit down on my lip, forcing myself to think of something else. Malfoy. Yes, Malfoy and I being paired up together as head girl and boy was no mistake. I guess Mr. Dumbledore was hoping that it would force us to work together. To get along and then maybe, set an example for the rest of the houses and unite everyone. Pffft, puhhhlease. Malfoy and I actually getting along? Yeah right.

However, if I wanted things to work out…if I wanted all of this to be over with, then that would mean pretending. I could do that. I bit my lip. I could pretend.

Embarrassingly, I realized that I had been standing there for quite awhile biting my lip and probably making several facial expressions. My cheeks turned red. I had been starring off into space and Malfoy was now looking at me with a bewildered and annoyed expression.

"Hey Granger, I know I'm irresistible, but you don't have to stare that much," he drawled slowly.

I clenched my teeth together and cursed under my breath, "Please Malfoy, go back into your dungeon of delusions."

He chuckled, "Easy there, you filthy mud blood."

I know that I should be used to him calling me a mud blood, especially since he's been calling me that for years now. But every time the words came out of his mouth, my temper flares up. "Shut it, ferret boy. The only reason why you made it as Head Boy is because you had your dad pay them off."

Malfoys normally blue eyes suddenly turned a dark gray as his eyebrows furrowed together in anger. His hair that he had grown out over the summer now fell in his eyes and he pursed his lips, trying to constrain himself. "You don't know anything about me, so stop wasting my time with your pesky comments. Keep to yourself and I will do the same. In other words Granger, fuck off," and with that he slammed the door in my face.

My hands balled up into fists and I held back my angry scream as his music pulsed through his door again, although it was quieter.

What the?! Who did he?! Argh!

Angrily, I stalked into my bedroom and slammed my door for good measure, even though I knew I was being immature. But really, since when did Malfoy ever get so riled up about anything I said? It's not like I had said anything new, it was just the usual 'your dad,' bullshit.

After a couple of minutes of forcing myself to breathe calmly, I pulled myself out of my bed and began unpacking. All of my other trunks and belongings had already been brought up, so I turned to those first and put everything in its rightful place. My books were lined neatly in alphabetical order, my clothes were folded and put into my draws in tidy piles, and I had a quaint bathroom where I placed my bathroom utilities in their rightful place. About an hour later, all of my things had been unpacked except for the one small suitcase which I had insisted on carrying with me. I picked it up from the ground and placed it onto my bed. In it, there were very few things, but that didn't matter. It was the items that held great value to me. There was a picture of my parents laughing and waving at me, my wand, my journal, and a few others. I held the picture of my parents and placed it onto my desk, starring at it for awhile, remembering and wishing.

Silently, I caught a tear and laughed at myself. _Get it together Hermione; crying isn't going to get you anywhere._

Straightening my shoulders, I grabbed the suitcase and placed it under my bed. My wand was lying on my desk, but everything else that the suitcase contained would not be needed; not until much later.

It was starting to get very late, but the idea of sleep scared me. So instead, I sat down and brought out my journal. As I looked at the perfectly straight lines that waited to be written on, I came up blank. For the first time in a long time, I didn't really have anything to write about. Actually, that wasn't true. There was plenty, there always was. But all I could think about was them. It was like a song in my head, a chant, and I was constantly hitting replay.

_They're alive, they're alive, they have to be, they have to be._

Slamming my journal closed, I tossed it under my bed and crawled underneath the covers. Classes were tomorrow and putting off the inevitable was simply pointless. There were so many things that I needed to get figured out. But not tonight; tonight I would hopefully sleep a dreamless sleep.

I closed my eyes and drifted into oblivion.


	5. Being Undone

In my dream they were all there. Everybody who I loved and cared about; my parents, Harry, and the whole Weasly family.

And then _him._

Voldermort.

I was standing in front of my family, as if I were attempting to protect them even though I knew it would be pointless. They were all still as statues and only their eyes flickered back and forth between Voldermort and me. I realized that he had put them all under the _Petrificus totalis _spell.

Of course, having this dream over and over every night, I knew what happen. It never changed. It was just the same horrible scene over and over. But I never got used to it.

He cackled, twirling his hand and looking at me with lustful hatred. He was twisted in the most disgusting ways and yet, I still feared him. Who wouldn't? He had the power to take everything I knew and loved and crush it to pieces.

My wand was already in my hand when I shouted out, _'Crucio!'_

He was faster.

Before a second had passed, I'd fallen to the ground twitching and jerking in pain. My veins burned and throbbed underneath my skin which felt as if it were melting off. I bit down on my lip to keep myself from screaming…he would enjoy that too much, and I had learned in the past three months that screaming didn't do any good anyway.

So I stayed on the ground with my burning body and waited for him to stop.

He eventually did.

Gasping, I pulled myself up and fought back tears of pain. Crying didn't do any good either. I was thinking about picking up my wand, but in less than a second, he had me against a wall and he held his wand directly under my chin, pushing it against my skin and daring me to make a move.

He liked playing games, and he was much better at it than I was.

"Don't forget," his whispery voice said, "I'm getting stronger. And these little visits I pay you will be more frequent, so you must understand why I have to torture you as much as I can in one setting. Hm…I do like to see you squirm. Well darling, on to more important matters. You see these people you…_love?_" He struggled saying the word love and spat it out as if it were a curse word, "Well…I'm going to show you what would happen to them if you don't do as I say."

Turning dramatically, he pulled me alongside him, holding me so tightly that his nails dug into my arm. I wanted to scream. I wanted to run. I wanted to save them. But it would be in vain. I had tried so many times before and yet, I failed every time.

In my mind, I knew that they weren't really in my dreams. That he just summoned images of them and he wasn't really hurting them. But that didn't stop me from trying to protect them anyway. I think a part of me thought that maybe if I _did _save them, that maybe he would…stop? That he would let my parents go. That he would let me go.

Silly idea I know, but the images that he summoned looked so real, looked exactly like them, talked like them, screamed like them…it just hurt too much to not do anything.

Raising his wand, he hissed a laugh and pointed towards my mother.

My beautiful mother.

"Granger…Granger!"

Groggily, I cracked open my eyes to see Malfoy standing over me in my bedroom. His white blond hair was slightly disheveled and he was standing in boxers, his chest illuminated by the moon light that was peeking through my curtains. I tried my best not to look at him.

"…Y-yeah?" I whispered shakily, trying my best to sound casual and to hide my trembling form. Why was he in my bedroom?

Pulling myself up, I winced at a stinging in my right arm. I looked at it and realized that I had dug my nails into my arm and broken some of the skin. Glancing at Malfoy, I moved my arm out of his view, even though he had already seen it and was peering at me with a perplexed expression.

"What?" I spat rudely. The moon outside told me that it was late at night and Malfoy being my room didn't make any sense.

Straightening up, he sneered, "Don't be a brat. I just came to wake you up because you were making a lot of noise…noise that I could hear all the way from my room."

My cheeks burned red as I realized that he had heard me screaming. I was glad for the darkness, so that he couldn't see my embarrassment.

"Uhh…sorry," I mumbled, even though I wasn't sure what exactly it was that I was sorry for and why I was apologizing to Malfoy of all people.

"Yeah, whatever, just try and keep the noise down," he said. He began turning around, when he glanced back at me, his eyes searching my face and his lips pursed as if he was going to say something. Turning away again, he walked out of my room and a couple of seconds later I heard his room door close.

I inhaled deeply and sighed. Rubbing my eyes, I became aware of the tears on my face. I had been crying?

Argh. Great. Now Malfoy would run off and tell people that I had nightmares and cried like a baby in them. That was just fantastic.

Grumbling, I pulled myself out of bed and hastily pulled jeans and a blouse on. Grabbing my robe, I picked up my books and brought them out to the common room. I knew I would not be getting back to sleep tonight, even though the clock told me it was four in the morning and we had three more hours until breakfast. After brushing my teeth and running a comb through my hair, I settled myself into the couch in the common room, and whispered a spell to light the fireplace. Doing magic without my wand was hard at first, but lighting a fireplace was simple and something that I had taught myself over the summer. I was getting better at doing other spells without my wand.

For the next hour, I skimmed through my potions book, refreshing my memory on the already memorized pages, and hoping that our new potions and dark arts teachers were good. As five o'clock came, I stretched and lay down on the couch. Closing my eyes, I relaxed in the warmth the fire radiated.

The sound of a door opening averted my attention from reciting the ingredients of an Amortentia potion and I turned to see a very tired Malfoy leaning against his door. His gaze flicked over to the seat across from the couch I was laying on; I could tell he was deliberating on whether or not to continue on with whatever he had had in mind or to leave.

I felt my cheeks flush with the recent embarrassment of him waking me up from a nightmare and I prayed to the stars he would leave. After all, I was here first and if he expected me to up and leave just because he didn't want to be around me, well…it wouldn't happen. Turning my head, I picked up my potions book and continued on reading as if I hadn't seen him.

A couple more seconds of deliberating, and Malfoy closed is bedroom door and exited through the portrait, leaving me quite happy.

After twenty minutes though, my eyelids began to get heavy, and I fought again the pull of drowsiness. Afraid of my nightmares, I sat up straighter and forced my eyes to follow the text and comprehend. I don't know when I fell asleep.

"Welcome back," his raspy voice greeted me as I walked into my dream world.

My mouth pulled down at the corners and I wanted to run, but I forced each foot in front of the other and soon I was standing right in front of him. The only way I could get out of the nightmare was either when he decided he was done, my alarm clock went off, or somebody woke me up. Seeing as I had turned my alarm clock off, I was in the common room and Malfoy wasn't around to wake me up, I didn't have much choice than to comply. Twirling his wand into my hair, he smiled and turned me around to face a lake.

I stopped. This was different. Even in my sleep, my body registered the change and I could feel myself tense.

I wish I could wake up.

The lake was beautiful. Deep blue sapphire water lapped gently at the small shore, and as he dragged me up to it, I felt its hard dry sand. I gazed around, stopping at once when I noticed that everything around the lake was dead. _Everything._

Plants that had the whisper of loss beauty were in abundance around the short shore and yet, they were all dead and withering brown with death. However, fifty feet from the shore, the plants that grew in abundance on the shore also grew, except they were green and furnished with life.

It was like the lake was sucking the life out of everything that came too close to it. I shivered.

Pushing me forward, I took another involuntarily step closer to the water and as I did I felt…strange. There was a certain wind that curled and danced against my body and lazily laced itself through my hair, tossing it to and fro as if it had not a care in the world. It was as if it was seducing me, beckoning me to come closer, and almost _daring _me.

I shook my head slightly. The wind doesn't play games. It doesn't challenge you to take a step closer to a lake.

I told myself that three times and yet I felt as if I was the hopeless sailor and I was being sung to by the beautiful Sirens.

Unusually, _he _was very quiet, letting me take in my surroundings and relishing in the subtle hint of fear that I knew he could sense. Typically by now, my friends and family would be dead and I would be hexing him or…_trying_ to anyway. Dread coursed its way through me and I got an awful feeling that the same dreams would be more preferable to this new and unexplored one.

The lakes gravitational pull got stronger and stronger as he had me take a step closer. I realized that he had stopped where he was and only pushed me forward with his wand…as if he were scared of the lake himself…I shook my head. Him? Scared of anything? Yeah right.

My toes were breaching on the water as its piercing icy cold sent tremors through me. Up close, the water seemed opaque and crystal clear, looking back at me with innocence.

"Frightened?" Voldermort sneered at me, even though he already knew the answer. Without waiting, he pushed me hard into the water.

I gasped as I was thrown into the icy sapphire depths and then…everything was warm.

The once frightening waters turned into a heated warm embrace, all of its wet arms wrapping themselves around me. My legs, arms, my _whole body _was engulfed in yellow glow and little lights like fireflies danced around me. Instead of fear, I felt content and a sigh of relief came from the waters…almost as if…it had been waiting for me. A whisper zipped through the waters that seemed to come from far away. I tensed thinking that it was Voldermort, but then a beautiful voice rang out and my body relaxed when I realized that it wasn't him.

Slowly a voice traveled from far away. "Hermione…" and my body filled up with such a strong joy that I felt as If I was going to explode. I looked around, my sight somewhat blurry, and my mind raced with amounting exhilaration as if I had been waiting for this day too.

I was so confused though. What was this? Who was it that had spoken my name?

Amongst the glowing embers of joy that still surrounded me, far ahead in the waters I saw a figure, a heavenly person swimming towards me. Before I could even register it, I stretched my hand out to them, as if I was stuck in the place I was and I needed them so bad…I need them to come and save me.

Suddenly however, I was pulled from the lake and as I was, the glowing embers shut off as if someone had flipped a switch. And the figure that had been so close to me, yet so far away, vanished before my eyes.

Standing on the shore again, Voldermort clutched me tightly. But I didn't hear what he was saying. Once I had been taken out of the waters, the warmth and the joy that had filled me up so much had vanished and in its place, I felt hollow and helpless. I realized as I stood there that I was crying. I was crying so hard that my body shook and I Iooked down at the once again cold lake, missing its embrace.

Voldermort was angry. I hadn't been paying attention to him at all and I had kept him waiting for an answer to the questions he had asked me. The questions I didn't hear. So it came to no surprise that I came face to face with the dry sand, my face stinging where he had slapped me.

I stopped my sobbing to look up at him with an expression of confusion and hatred.

"What did you see?" Voldermort spat at me, his red glowing slits for eyes narrowing at me in loathing.

"I…I don't know," I stammered, because it was true. I wasn't really sure of what I had seen.

Apparently that wasn't sufficient enough for him though and he kicked me in the stomach. "Tell me what you saw you disgusting mud blood!"

Another slap to the face and I spat out the blood before saying, "I don't know. It was really…yellow and warm. And there was someone coming towards me."

He stopped in the middle of reaching towards me, most likely to pick me up and slap me down again. "Well…? Who was it? Who did you see?" He asked with amounting anticipation.

"I don't know. I didn't get to see them, because you pulled me out."

Voldermort furrowed his eyes in anger. "Then you'll just have to go back in again…" And as he said that, my heart leaped in happiness. It was probably one of the nicest things Voldermort would ever indirectly do for me, because I would get to go into the warm embrace again.

Whatever Voldermort had planned involved the lake and I also knew that he, for some reason, couldn't get into the lake. That's why he had sent me. He needed me to know what was in the lake and it was very important. Voldermort wanted to use it for his own evil purposes, but the lake, it wanted _me. _I knew that whatever I saw in the lake, I could not tell Voldermort. The lake was a part of me somehow. I shook my head. I didn't know how I knew these things, but I just _did _and I felt so sure of it.

"Did the person speak to you at all?" He hissed at me.

I looked at him and answered with a strong voice that I thought I had lost awhile back, "No. All I saw was a figure. That's it."

His red eyes looked at me for a couple of seconds, before he ordered me to get up. As I stood before the lake, my eyes filled up with tears again. It was all so confusing to me; why was I so emotional about…a lake? I laughed to myself. It all seemed so ridiculous. But the still waters looked at me and the wind waltzed through my hair, as if it was excited along with me. Stepping closer to the shore, I closed my eyes as tears ran down my face. I was feeling so conflicted. I felt excitement about getting to go into the lake again, confusion because I wasn't sure what the lake was, joy, warmth, but then…sorrow. Why sorrow? And there were other emotions that I couldn't register…

Just as I was going to fall into the lake again, I felt a tug. And another tug. And another one. My eyes widened as I realized that I was becoming conscious. Somebody was waking me up. But I didn't want to wake up! I wanted to go into the lake…

I fought against the pull of consciousness, but to no avail. I could hear Voldermort growl.

Soon, the common room surroundings swirled into my vision and I was back on the couch; the potions book in my lap and the fire still burning.

Malfoy was standing in front of me.

Bolting straight up, I looked at him in alarm. Touching my face, I felt the tears and my still stinging face from Voldermort slapping me. I grabbed my stomach as I felt a throb from the kick he had given me.

I was a hundred percent sure that I looked like hell.

Malfoy straightened up and it seemed as if he wasn't sure of what to say, probably a first for him. I wasn't sure of what to say either. Sometimes I talked in my sleep, along with crying and screaming apparently…I wondered briefly if I had said anything.

"You were…crying," he mumbled almost to himself.

I wiped my face and tried to think of something to say that…but came up empty. There was no use in denying it, but I sure as hell didn't want to talk about it either.

"Don't…say anything…?" I muttered. Here I was, asking Malfoy to do something for me. What the hell had happened in the last twenty four hours? Fuck, what had happened with my last four months?

Grimly, I glanced up at him as he stood in front of me, his blue eyes observing me and his lips pursed again, as if he wanted to say something, but was holding himself back.

It was the most civil (I guess if you can call it that) awkward situation we had ever been in.

He turned around and walked towards the portrait. I sighed and mentally slapped myself for even asking him that.

However, right before he got to the portrait, I heard him stop and I swear I heard him mutter, "Yeah, sure."

Shaking my head, I got up as the portrait swung shut behind him and grabbed all of my books. It was seven thirty and breakfast had already started. I walked into the bathroom, splashed water over my face, and tried to make myself look presentable. I slipped my robes on, but then stopped before leaving the bathroom to look at myself in the mirror.

The girl in the mirror was so different. She was a shadow of the real me it seemed. My eyes were slightly puffy from crying and I had bags under them. My cheek was still red and as my head pounded with an oncoming headache, my eyes teared up. Frustrated, I wiped my tears away and swiped some make up on my face to cover the redness and maybe help me look less tired. It didn't work; at least it didn't seem to.

I wanted to sit and think about the dream I had had. Well…not the dream. The visit I had had with Voldermort. And the lake. I had so many questions. My chest ached. Could I miss my classes today? No. I already knew the answer to that, but it was a nice idea to be able to stay in bed all day and sleep a dreamless slumber. I would find the answers to my questions later, but right now I had to compose myself and do the things that I had to do.

Straightening my shoulders, I practiced a tight smile and gave up two minutes later. It would do for now. Repeating the rules to myself, I walked through the portrait and the nearly empty halls to breakfast. As I walked over to the Gryffindors table, a few people glanced over at me in curiosity, but I went unnoticed for the most part.

Ron and Harry glanced up at me as they shoveled food into their mouths and as I sat down with a smile on my face.

"Morning Hermie," Ron said, which I'm pretty was all he would be able to say for a minute or so, because of the large amount of food shoved in his mouth. Gross.

"Good morning Ron. Goodness, there is such a thing as bite size pieces you know," I teased.

Ron smiled which made me smile a real smile, because he looked like a chipmunk what with the food crammed into his cheeks.

I turned to Harry who had swallowed his food and was smiling at me, "Morning Hermione, how's the Head Girl doing?"

It took me a second to realize that he was talking to me. Odd how in sixth year being head girl was all I could talk about and now that I had it, I had actually forgotten about it the very next day.

Pushing my lips into a happy curve I said, "I'm doing great. I'm excited for our potions and dark arts classes today. I didn't sleep well last night though."

"Yeah," Harry said, "I wasn't going to say anything about it, but you look kind of rough. Was it Malfoy? Did he bother you at all?"

A genuine smile played on my lips. My dear friends and how they were always looking out for me. "No, he hasn't bothered me at all, not really."

Harry's green eyes looked at me briefly before nodding and saying 'good.' Ron came in two seconds later with his 'good,' and soon they were wrapped up in a discussion about Quidditch. I didn't pay any attention to them, but let their indistinct conversation surround me. It was familiar and it made me feel safe. I looked at Harry and Ron and sighed as relief washed over me. It was so good seeing them happy and animated as they talked about their favorite sport, without any worries at all clouding their minds. I'd go through hell and back to make sure that they and the rest of my family could be happy.

As I was picking at my food, I felt someone's eyes on me. Glancing back, I met Malfoys gaze. His blue eyes were locked onto me so fiercely I thought for sure he was trying to blow me up in pieces. Looking back at my food, worry filled me. He looked mad or as if he was trying to figure something out.

I glanced back and saw that he had his eyes on his food. Strangely, instead of being the center of attention as he always was, his friend Blaise was the one making the most noise and laughing.

Had Malfoy told anyone about last night or this morning? Biting my lip, I glanced at everyone. They all seemed to be in perfectly good moods, if not somewhat dampened by the fact that we had classes today.

After a few more minutes, it was time for our first class, so Harry, Ron, and I grabbed our things and headed to our potions class.

I couldn't concentrate on the conversation however, because I had this nagging feeling as If I was forgetting something.

And then it hit me. The realization came over me so strongly that I stopped in my tracks.

The other emotions that I had been feeling when I was in the lake were love…and hope.

Two things I hadn't felt in months, they felt so foreign to me…

"Hermione did you forget something?" Harry asked.

I looked up, broken out of my reverie, "No, sorry. Let's get to class."

And as we continued walking, I laughed to myself.

Love and hope. What silly emotionsy.

* * *

Hey! I know it's been such a long time, I'm so sorry about that! But I hope you guys liked this chapter. A lot longer than the others and I know it's a different flow, but I think this chapter was important to get out in the beginning. All fun and games next though. I will be switching point of views between Hermione and Draco, I'm not sure how often I'll do that. Anyway, review and tell me what you think, thank you.

(:


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